The Uranium Information Centre (UIC) was an Australian organisation primarily concerned with increasing the public understanding of uranium mining and nuclearelectricity generation.
Uranium mining is the process of extraction of uranium ore from the ground. The worldwide production of uranium in 2015 amounted to 60,496 tonnes. Kazakhstan, Canada, and Australia are the top three producers and together account for 70% of world uranium production. Other important uranium producing countries in excess of 1,000 tons per year are Niger, Russia, Namibia, Uzbekistan, China, the United States and Ukraine. Uranium from mining is used almost entirely as fuel for nuclear power plants.
Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions that release nuclear energy to generate heat, which most frequently is then used in steam turbines to produce electricity in a nuclear power plant. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced by nuclear fission of uranium and plutonium. Nuclear decay processes are used in niche applications such as radioisotope thermoelectric generators. Generating electricity from fusion power remains at the focus of international research. This article mostly deals with nuclear fission power for electricity generation.
Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy. For utilities in the electric power industry, it is the stage prior to its delivery to end users or its storage.
Founded in 1978, the Centre worked for many years to provide information about the development of the Australian uranium industry, the contribution it can make to world energy supplies and the benefits it can bring Australia. It was a broker of information on all aspects of the mining and processing of uranium, the nuclear fuel cycle, and the role of nuclear energy in helping to meet world electricity demand.
Information can be thought of as the resolution of uncertainty; it is that which answers the question of "what an entity is" and thus defines both its essence and nature of its characteristics. It is associated with data, as data represents values attributed to parameters, and information is data in context and with meaning attached. Information relates also to knowledge, as knowledge signifies understanding of an abstract or concrete concept.
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef or placer deposit. These deposits form a mineralized package that is of economic interest to the miner.
The nuclear fuel cycle, also called nuclear fuel chain, is the progression of nuclear fuel through a series of differing stages. It consists of steps in the front end, which are the preparation of the fuel, steps in the service period in which the fuel is used during reactor operation, and steps in the back end, which are necessary to safely manage, contain, and either reprocess or dispose of spent nuclear fuel. If spent fuel is not reprocessed, the fuel cycle is referred to as an open fuel cycle ; if the spent fuel is reprocessed, it is referred to as a closed fuel cycle.
The Centre was funded by companies involved in uranium exploration, mining and export in Australia.
In 1995 Ian Hore-Lacy assumed the role of General Manager of the UIC, a position he held until 2001. The UIC's website was established in the year of his appointment. After leaving the UIC, Ian Hore-Lacy went on to work for the World Nuclear Association (WNA) as Director of Public Information for 12 years and as of 2015 he continues to work there as a Senior Research Analyst. In the late 2000s, the UIC's main information-providing function was assumed by the WNA and World Nuclear News (WNN), based in London, UK.
Ian Hore-Lacy is an Australian nuclear industry communicator, author and advocate for nuclear power in Australia. He is semi-retired as Senior Advisor with the World Nuclear Association, London.
The World Nuclear Association (WNA) is the international organization that promotes nuclear power and supports the companies that comprise the global nuclear industry. Its members come from all parts of the nuclear fuel cycle, including uranium mining, uranium conversion, uranium enrichment, nuclear fuel fabrication, plant manufacture, transport, and the disposition of used nuclear fuel as well as electricity generation itself.
The Australian Uranium Association was an Australian industry trade group which represented companies involved in uranium exploration, mining and export. It operated from September 2006 until 2013, after which its responsibilities were absorbed by the Minerals Council of Australia.
The Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) is an industry association, notable for representing companies that generate most of Australia's mining output. The MCA was founded in 1995. It used to be known as the Australian Mining Industry Council which was established in 1960. The Minerals Council is an associate member of the World Coal Association.
The World Uranium Hearing was held in Salzburg, Austria in September 1992. Anti-nuclear speakers from all continents, including indigenous speakers and scientists, testified to the health and environmental problems of uranium mining and processing, nuclear power, nuclear weapons, nuclear tests, and radioactive waste disposal.
The uranium mining debate covers the political and environmental controversies of the mining of uranium for use in either nuclear power or nuclear weapons.
Rosatom, stylized as ROSATOM and also known as the Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation, the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom, or the Rosatom State Corporation, is a Russian state corporation headquartered in Moscow that specializes in nuclear energy. Established in 2007, the organization comprises more than 360 enterprises, including scientific research organizations, the nuclear weapons complex, and the world's only nuclear icebreaker fleet.
Cameco Corporation is the world's largest publicly traded uranium company, based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. In 2015, it was the world's second largest uranium producer, accounting for 18% of world production.
Nuclear energy policy is a national and international policy concerning some or all aspects of nuclear energy and the nuclear fuel cycle, such as uranium mining, ore concentration, conversion, enrichment for nuclear fuel, generating electricity by nuclear power, storing and reprocessing spent nuclear fuel, and disposal of radioactive waste.
Nuclear power plants currently operate in 31 countries. Most are in Europe, North America, East Asia and South Asia. The United States is the largest producer of nuclear power, while France has the largest share of electricity generated by nuclear power. In 2010, before the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, it was reported that an average of about 10 nuclear reactors were expected to become operational per year, although according to the World Nuclear Association, of the 17 civilian reactors planned to become operational between 2007 and 2009, only five actually came on stream. Global nuclear electricity generation in 2012 was at its lowest level since 1999.
Spain has five active nuclear power plants with seven reactors producing 21% of the country's electricity as of 2013.
Nuclear weapons testing, uranium mining and export, and nuclear power have often been the subject of public debate in Australia, and the anti-nuclear movement in Australia has a long history. Its origins date back to the 1972–73 debate over French nuclear testing in the Pacific and the 1976–77 debate about uranium mining in Australia.
Peak uranium is the point in time that the maximum global uranium production rate is reached. After that peak, according to Hubbert peak theory, the rate of production enters a terminal decline. While uranium is used in nuclear weapons, its primary use is for energy generation via nuclear fission of the uranium-235 isotope in a nuclear power reactor. Each kilogram of uranium-235 fissioned releases the energy equivalent of millions of times its mass in chemical reactants, as much energy as 2700 tons of coal, but uranium-235 is only 0.7% of the mass of natural uranium. Uranium-235 is a finite non-renewable resource. There is speculation that future advances in breeder reactor technology could allow the current reserves of uranium to provide power for humanity for billions of years, thus making nuclear power a sustainable energy. However, in 2010 the International Panel on Fissile Materials said "After six decades and the expenditure of the equivalent of tens of billions of dollars, the promise of breeder reactors remains largely unfulfilled and efforts to commercialize them have been steadily cut back in most countries." But in 2016, the Russian BN-800 fast-neutron breeder reactor started producing commercially at full power.
The prospect of nuclear power in Australia has been a topic of public debate since the 1950s. Australia has never had a nuclear power station. Australia hosts 33% of the world's uranium deposits and is the world's third largest producer of uranium after Kazakhstan and Canada.
Radioactive ores were first extracted in South Australia at Radium Hill in 1906 and Mount Painter in 1911. 2,000 tons of ore were treated to recover radium for medical use. Several hundred kilograms of uranium were also produced for use in ceramic glazes. In 2017, of the world's estimated uranium resources, 30% were in Australia, ahead of the second largest, Kazakhstan. In terms of production, Canada is the largest supplier, followed by Kazakhstan and Australia. Uranium mined in Australia is entirely for export. Australia exported 64,488 tonnes of uranium in the ten years to 2017.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to nuclear power:
The Olympic Dam mine is a large poly-metallic underground mine located in South Australia, 550 km NNW of Adelaide. It is the fourth largest copper deposit and the largest known single deposit of uranium in the world, although copper is the largest contributor to total revenue. Approximately 70% of the mine's revenue comes from copper, 25% from uranium, and the remainder from silver and gold. BHP has owned and operated the mine since 2005. The mine was previously owned by Western Mining Corporation.
The Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission is a Royal Commission into South Australia's future role in the nuclear fuel cycle. It commenced on 19 March 2015 and delivered its final report to the Government of South Australia on 6 May 2016. The Commissioner was former Governor of South Australia, Kevin Scarce, a retired Royal Australian Navy Rear-Admiral and chancellor of the University of Adelaide. The Commission delivered 12 key recommendations, including identifying an economic opportunity in the establishment of a deep geological storage facility and the receipt of spent nuclear fuel from prospective international clients. The Commission also recommended repealing prohibitions which prevent the future development of nuclear industry in South Australia and nationally.
The Uranium Council is an entity created by the Australian Government in 2009. Chair Mark Chalmers has described it as "a combined Australian Government, Industry and Stakeholders committee organized to review and remove impediments to Australia’s uranium exploration and development policy." It contains representatives from Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments, the uranium industry and the Northern Land Council.
Out of the Fiery Furnace is a seven-part documentary series which was completed for ABC television in Australia in 1983. The series traces the discovery and use of metals, minerals, and energy resources through time and was shown in over twenty countries. It was produced by Robert Raymond, was written by Robert Raymond and Michael Charlton and was directed by Chris McCullough. Supported by the Rio Tinto group it consisted of seven episodes, each an hour in duration. Australian nuclear power advocate Ian Hore-Lacy was closely involved with the production.
Dr Ian Duncan is a businessman active in the Australian resources sector. He is a past president of operations at the Olympic Dam mine in South Australia under Western Mining Corporation. He was Chairman of the London-based Uranium Institute in 1995-1996. From the 1990s to the present, Duncan has advocated for nuclear industrial development in Australia, specifically the development of facilities to store and dispose of nuclear waste and the legalization and development of nuclear power plants for the generation of electricity. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology, Science and Engineering (ATSE), the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM), and Engineers Australia.
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